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Volume 5, Issue 1, April 2008 Oscar Pistorius and the Future Nature of Olympic, Paralympic and Other Sports

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Volume 5, Issue 1, April 2008 Oscar Pistorius and the Future Nature of Olympic, Paralympic and Other Sports Volume 5, Issue 1, April 2008 Oscar Pistorius and the future nature of Olympic, Paralympic and other sports Gregor Wolbring * Abstract Oscar Pistorius is a Paralympic bionic leg runner and record holder in the 100, 200, and 400 meters who wants to compete in the Olympics. This paper provides an analysis of a) his case; b) the impact of his case on the Olympics, the Paralympics and other –lympics and the relationships between the –lympics; c) the impact on other international and national sports; d) the applicability of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. It situates the evaluation of the Pistorius case within the broader doping discourse and the reality that new and emerging science and technology products increasingly generate internal and external human bodily enhancements that go beyond the species-typical, enabling more and more a culture of increasing demand for, and acceptance of modifications of the human body (structure, function, abilities) beyond its species-typical boundaries and the emergence of new social concepts such as transhumanism and the transhumanisation of ableism. DOI: 10.2966/scrip.050108.139 © Gregor Wolbring 2008. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence . Please click on the link to read the terms and conditions. *Contact Info: University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine, 3330 Hospital Drive, NW, T2N4N1, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, e-mail [email protected] webpage: http://www.bioethicsanddisability.org biweekly column The Choice is Yours: http://www.innovationwatch.com/commentary_choiceisyours.htm NanoBioInfoCognoSynbio Blog: http://wolbring.wordpress.com/ (2008) 5:1 SCRIPT-ed 140 1. Introduction New and emerging science and technology products and changing social concepts and values continuously impact onto sports. Advances in science and technology lead to products that generate new sports and influence existing sports. They generate products that allow for the internal and external modification of athletes and they create external tools athletes can use, both of which influence the athlete’s ability to perform. They are a key player in the dance between the athletes who are willing to use performance enhancements, to dope themselves without being detected, and the authorities who try to identify athletes who dope. New and emerging science and technology products and changing social concepts and values increasingly influence and pose challenges to the doping discourses. The appearance of internal and external enhancements of the human body in many shapes and forms that go beyond the species-typical enable a culture of increasing demand for, and acceptance of, improvements to and modifications of the human body (structure, function, abilities) beyond its species-typical boundaries and vice versa. This will further the establishment of new social concepts such as transhumanism which is a “based on the premise that the human species in its current form does not represent the end of our development but rather a comparatively early phase”1 and “the desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities”. 2 The transhumanisation of ableism, 3 which is the set of beliefs, processes and practices that perceive the “improvement” of human body abilities beyond typical Homo sapiens boundaries as essential is another consequence. The case of double-amputee bionic leg runner and Paralympic record holder Oscar Pistorius who expressed the wish to compete in the Beijing Olympics has grasped public attention, as has the decision by the world governing body for track and field 4 (IAAF) not to allow Pistorius to compete in the Olympics. 1 World Transhumanist Association, "The Transhumanist FAQ – A General Introduction – Version 2.1", (2003) available at: http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/WTA/faq21/46/ 2 Ibid. 3 See: G Wolbring, "Glossary for the 21st Century", International Center for Bioethics, Culture and Disability (2007) available at: http://www.bioethicsanddisability.org/glossary.htm ; G Wolbring, "Why NBIC? Why human performace enchancment?", (2008) 21 (1) Innovation; The European Journal of Social Science Research 25-40; "NBICS, other convergences, ableism and the culture of peace", G Wolbring, Innovationwatch.com, 15 Apr 2007, available at: http://www.innovationwatch.com/choiceisyours/choiceisyours-2007-04-15.htm ; G Wolbring, "New and Emerging Sciences and Technologies, Ableism, Transhumanism and Religion, Faith, Theology and Churches" (2007) 7 Madang; International Journal of Contextual Theology in East Asia , 79. 4 "IAAF Oscar Pistorius - Independent Scientific study concludes that cheetah prosthetics offer clear mechanical advantages", International Association of Athletics Federations, 14 Jan 2008, available at: http://www.iaaf.org/news/newsId=42896,printer.html ; "IAAF rules sprinter Pistorius ineligible", R Casert, Associated Press , 14 Jan 2008, available at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080114/ap_on_sp_ol/oly_run_iaaf_pistorius ; International Paralympic Committee, "International Paralympic Committee IPC Position Statement on IAAF's Commissioned Research on Oscar Pistorius", 14 Jan 2008, available at: (2008) 5:1 SCRIPT-ed 141 This paper provides an analysis of the case of Oscar Pistorius and its impact on the Olympics, the Paralympics and the relationship between these two events. It situates the evaluation within the broader doping discourse and the appearance of new and emerging science and technology human performance enhancement products and social concepts such as transhumanism and the transhumanized version of ableism and their impact on sports. 2. The case of Oscar Pistorius to date Pistorius is a 21-year-old South African below the knee amputee who at the 2006 Paralympic Athletics World Championships won gold in the 100, 200 and 400 meter events and who is the world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 metres track and field events of Paralympic athletes. Pistorius was regarded as being fast enough to earn a spot for the 200- and 400-meter sprints on South Africa’s Olympic team.5 Pistorius asked to be allowed to run in the Olympics if he would qualify for his country's Olympic team. The world governing body for track and field (IAAF) ruled on 14 January 2008 – invoking its rule 144.2 which deals with technical aids – “that double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius is ineligible to compete in the Beijing Olympics because his prosthetic racing legs give him a clear competitive advantage”.6 Athletics South Africa stated that it would immediately apply the decision, making it impossible for Pistorius to qualify for the South African Olympic team.7 The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) released a position statement regarding that decision on 14 January 2008, stating among others: After receiving and reviewing the official report, the IPC acknowledges the scientific validity of the tests conducted and the outcome of the research project. However, the use of an assistive device should not only be considered in solely biomechanical terms. It is recommended that further investigations take into consideration other aspects such as an examination of the energy loss or generation of the corresponding knee and hip joints as well as the impact of the amputation site contact with the prostheses. Rules, regulations and performance standards must be developed to ensure that equipment is safe, fair and universally accessible for athletes to achieve standards of excellence. 8 http://www.paralympic.org/release/Main_Sections_Menu/News/Press_Releases/2008_01_14_a.html ; "Oscar Pistorius Statement", Center for the Study of Sport in Society, A Northeastern University Center, (2007), available at: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d10009437 ; "Blind athlete leads the way", T Plougheld, The Pulse , 31 Oct 2007 available at: http://www.thepulse2007.org/?p=100 5 "Blade Runner", J McHugh, Wired Magazine , March 2007, available at: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/blade.html 6 See both IAAF notes, see note 4. 7 Casert, see note 4. 8 International Paralympic Committee, see note 4. (2008) 5:1 SCRIPT-ed 142 Pistorius has already appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 9 The Pistorius story is covered extensively in the public domain. Google generates 191,000 hits with the search term “Oscar Pistorius.” The discourse consists of two main themes, one being whether his legs give an unfair advantage and whether the tests performed were appropriate; and the second whether he should be allowed to compete if his legs indeed give a performance advantage.10 The story of Pistorius however goes beyond bionic runners and whether he should or should not compete in the Olympics. Other issues are: • can the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities,11 the newest human rights instrument for people with disabilities, give some guidance; • the consequences of invoking rule 144.2 and dealing with technical aids for Olympic, Paralympic, other –lympic and international sport; • the future of “enhancements” and their impact on the Olympics, Paralympics, other –lympic and international sports; • the relationship between the Olympics, Paralympics, other –lympics and international sports. 3. UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) 3.1. The issue of sports and the CRPD Human rights and sports have a long history of impacting each other. A conference that
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